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The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force on Monday called for routine HIV testing for all Americans aged 15 to 65, expanding its 2005 recommendation that included only high-risk individuals. The draft recommendation was prompted by studies showing major health benefits of early HIV treatment, task force chairwoman Virginia Moyer said.

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Health insurers are required to cover preventive services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, but the USPSTF has not made a recommendation on prophylactic use of Gilead's Truvada to prevent HIV infection in high-risk patients, and a spokesperson said no review is planned.

This week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is set to issue a draft recommendation against the use of prostate-specific antigen blood screening for all healthy men. "Unfortunately, the evidence now shows that this test does not save men's lives," said Dr. Virginia Moyer, the task force chairwoman. "This test cannot tell the difference between cancers that will and will not affect a man during his natural lifetime. We need to find one that does."

The U.S. CDC next month is due to recommend that HIV testing become routine for everyone between the ages of 13 and 64. Currently, only pregnant women and high-risk groups are advised to get the testing, but officials say a greater public understanding of HIV should allow for the acceptance of a more general recommendation.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has updated its recommendations on HIV screening to include all pregnant women, and not just those considered at high risk. The panel said scientific advances have made the screening easier and there has been so much success in preventing the spread of the disease among high-risk women that screening for all women is justified.